The Singing Turk
Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon
Handel, Tamerlano (London, 1724)
Placido Domingo singing Bajazet’s landmark and lengthy death scene, as composed by Handel in 1724, at that time an operatic scenes of unprecedented dramtic complexity for tenor voice ; Domingo sang this role at Washington National Opera in 2008:
These musical samples are intended to accompany the text of the book.
CHAPTER ONE: The Captive Sultan: Operatic Transfigurations of the Ottoman Menace after the Siege of Vienna
Gasparini, Il Bajazet (Reggio Emilia, 1719)
“Forte e lieto a morte andrei” (Strong and glad I would go to death),
Bajazet’s aria, sung by tenor Ian Bostridge, included on his CD collection “Three Baroque Tenors”; the baroque tenor in question was Francesco Borosini.
Handel, Tamerlano (London, 1724)
“Forte e lieto a morte andrei” (Strong and glad I would go to death),
same text of Bajazet’s aria, this time as set by Handel;
again sung by tenor Ian Bostridge